Posted on 05/22/2007 2:28:42 PM PDT by Fractal Trader
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Tuesday that would impose specific penalties for the fraudulent use of spyware but would not impose new requirements on software makers.
House lawmakers approved a bill providing for up to five years in jail for those who use spyware to commit fraud but stops short of regulatory requirements sought by some lawmakers.
"It targets the worst forms of spyware without unduly burdening technological innovation," said Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, chief sponsor of the bill which passed on a voice vote.
Spyware has emerged as a major headache for computer users. It can end up on users' computers through a virus or through downloaded games or other free programs off the Internet.
Spyware can sap computing power, crash machines and bury users under a blizzard of unwanted ads. Scam artists can use spyware to capture passwords, account numbers and other sensitive personal data. Message Board TALK: Have you had spyware problems?
The bill passed by the House on Tuesday is supported by the software industry. It omits provisions in competing legislation endorsed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee that would require software distributors and advertisers to clearly notify and obtain consent from consumers before programs can be loaded onto a computer.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
“Fraudulent use of spyware.”
Wow
In other words, MS and other big corporate spyware will be “authorized” and legal, but no one else’s will.
ping
Last I heard about this law, it specifically exempts things like the Sony root kit.
Written this way, this is completely useless legislation.
I want EVERY company to be FORCED to notify me of every piece of software they install, what data they are harvesting from me and others, each and every time their software communicates and what it is communicating, etc... under extremly high cost penalties including money, jail time and immediate, automatic insertion of every piece of code that they had me install into the public domain - effectively giving up all copyright and “patent” ownership.
My system already does that.
Yeah, rub it in. They'll see the light eventually. :-)
That's because it was written by congress.
I run linux for most things, too.
However, there are fool pieces of hardware that I have to keep MS junk around for, and if you have it, you’ve got more than just MS -— kind of like all those germs you have lurking around on your skin and in your body just because you’re living.
If any virus/ malware infestation carried substantial penalties for non compliance of notice, including losing all rights to the software associated with the allowed malware, we might see some benefits from this type of legislation. What the House just proposed does nothing useful.
Agreed. And I sympathize with your hardware issues. It's kinda funny--we just bought a new HP printer a month or so ago since our Epson was showing its age. My wife's Windows machine cannot load the drivers for it, while my Linux boxen can see it and connect to it flawlessly.
Funniest of all is your wife still running Windows. You didn't sabotage her printer did you LOL. So even though the new printer mysteriously won't work she still won't switch? That Linux sure is a tough sell huh.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.